We're BAAAAACK!

Ok, it's been a while (like THREE YEARS) since the last post on this blog. There is so much going on now, I felt the need to turn it on again. So, here's a schedule of important events coming up next week. Please attend if you can! I've included links to specific websites for more information. Please educate yourself about these very important issues! 

Please check back often for updates and new information on important issues like the Badger-Coulee high voltage power line, unsafe rail cars, frack sand mining, the Sierra Club's Coulee Region Goes Solar campaign, Community Solar Gardens, energy efficiency opportunities, political campaigns, and much more!

Every Sunday, I will try to post a calendar of upcoming events of interest to the progressive community. If you have events, please email couleeprogressive@hotmail.com. Also, if you'd like to post on this blog, please email.

MONDAY, JULY 7 at 4 p.m. at the County Administrative Building (room 3220), the County's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee will consider a piece of legislation that would fund a railroad safety analysis. With increasing traffic of larger, longer, and less safe trains (and the possibility that a second rail line will be constructed through sensitive areas), the proposal would study whether current infrastructure - rail crossings, bridges, etc. - are safe or might require upgrading or repair. If you wish to make a comment in support of this proposal, please attend! 

TUESDAY, JULY 8 at 7 p.m. at the Cartwright Center, UW-L, CRUE (Coulee Region United Educators) will host a screening of CITIZEN KOCH. "A searing exposé on the state of American democracy and the fracturing of the Republican Party, CITIZEN KOCH investigates the money behind the Tea Party and traces the impact of unlimited election spending by corporations and billionaires. Alternately terrifying and funny, CITIZEN KOCH is an essential and powerful portrait of our political times." One of the teachers featured in the film will be on hand after the screening for questions. 

[NOTE: A second screening is being planned for late July or early August through TUGG. Details have not yet been finalized. Check back next week for ticket information.] 

TUESDAY, JULY 8 at 7:15 p.m. at the La Crosse Democratic Party Headquarters, 126 Fifth Avenue South (Suite 102), there will be a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Mary Burke. Read more here. 

THURSDAY, JULY 10 at noon at the corner of Losey and Green Bay, CARS (Citizens Advocating for Rail Safety) will hold an event commemorating the one year anniversary of the deaths of 47 people killed when a Canadian Pacific train carrying tar sands crude oil exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Canada. (Hear a good story about this event, including a La Crosse connection, here). 

CARS has been working in La Crosse to alert people of the increased risk of derailments, toxic spills, and explosions as more and more trains, carrying more and more unsafe cars full of explosive crude oil pass through the middle of our community. About 25% of citizens live and/or work within 1/2 mile of the tracks - the danger zone for an exploded train car. Heavier and more frequent loads are causing damage to houses and reducing quality of life for families living near the rails. Parked trains are blocking utilities workers and may pose danger for residents who live in neighborhoods with limited access roads that could be  blocked by parked trains. In addition, the oil is dirty and enviromentally devastating, For more info on the oil train issue, check out the comprehensive DOT Reader. 

Remember, there is a primary election coming up on August 12! If you need to register to vote, get more information about your polling place or early voting, or request an absentee ballot, please visit MYVOTE, a Wisconsin voter information site and portal. 

I'm off Facebook because of all their shenanigans, but if you use FB, pleases share this link.